“What do you see?”

Inspired by Amos 8, God’s Summer Basket of Fruit invites us to see justice ripening and truth made visible in community.

Sixth Sunday After Pentecost – Worship Service – July 20, 2025

Bulletin-07-20-2025
Hebrew Scripture: Amos 8:1–12

With the prophet Amos as our guide, we entered this Sunday’s worship with a bold and ancient question: “What do you see?” Rev. Glencie Rhedrick—returning to Holy Covenant’s pulpit—brought a theologically rich, justice-centered message titled “The Time Is Ripe: Prophecy in the Age of Propaganda.”

Drawing on the imagery of Amos’s basket of summer fruit, Rev. Rhedrick called us to recognize that moments of abundance are also moments of accountability. The fruit is ripe—so is the reckoning. The systems that trample the poor and silence the prophets have been named before. And yet, God still calls for truth-telling, solidarity, and repair. In the UCC tradition, we are not only invited to discern God’s word—we are called to embody it in the public square.

Rev. Rhedrick named the danger of theological comfort zones and reminded us that the famine Amos speaks of is not a lack of food—but a lack of hearing God’s voice. Her sermon challenged us to listen with urgency and act with courage, especially when truth is inconvenient. Our worship was grounded in lament, resistance, and the deep joy of those who seek justice not just in word, but in deed.

📖🙏 Order of Worship Highlights:

• Prelude: “O For a Thousand Tongues to Tell”
• Introit: “There’s a Spirit of Love in This Place”
• Hebrew Scriptures: Psalm 52 | Amos 8:1–12
• Sermon: “The Time Is Ripe: Prophecy in the Age of Propaganda” – Rev. Glencie Rhedrick
• Postlude: “God’s Eye Is on the Sparrow”

“The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine… not of bread, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”
— Amos 8:11